Jim Koch, founder and chairman of The Boston Beer Company, brewers of Samuel Adams Beer, is a pioneer of the American palate as well as a quiet leader in conscientious capitalism.

If a local microbrewery opened in your vicinity sometime in the last 20 years, you have Koch in large part to thank. Establishing Samuel Adams in 1984, Koch kicked off the craft beer movement, awakening American drinkers to the vast potential of taste and sophistication in…

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“May you live in interesting times,” that sly curse, reputed to come from ancient China, is actually apocryphal, no more Chinese than the fortune cookies it shows up in; than Robert Kennedy, who quoted it in a 1966 speech at Cape Town University; or than Chris Marker, the elusive French filmmaker who.. Read & Discuss

Under ordinary circumstances, Chinese censors make it difficult for filmmakers to present any kind of meaningful depiction of contemporary life, which is one of the reasons that period stories and martial arts adventures are so prevalent. Like our MPAA ratings board, the State Administration of Radio,.. Read & Discuss

In the current issue, the filmmaker Jia Zhang Ke writes about how China’s rampant DVD piracy has created a class of street vendors operating suitcase cinematheques, their tables overflowing with Hollywood blockbusters placed willy nilly next to arthouse obscurities and Asian hits. There’s very little sense of curation: if it’s been released somewhere, the Chinese will bootleg it (researching this phenomenon in Shanghai, in and among Pirates of the Caribbean and Mission: Impossible discs, we found illicit…

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As the harrowing details of yesterday’s 7.8 earthquake in Sichuan Province continue to pile up, allow us to offer a few moments of light respite courtesy of the Internet celebrity known as the Chinese MC Hammer. With equal measures of diligence and exuberance, this young man has recreated the choreography of MTV classics by Hammer, and Michael Jackson, in his living room (in some of the clips, implacable relatives can be seen in the background, sitting…

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We bet no one at Hill & Knowlton is smart enough to suggest this, but if the Chinese government really wants to endear itself to the rest of the world, it should kick the dopey Panda to the curb and adopt the Red Panda as the country’s new national animal. Native to Southern China (and also—hello!—to Tibet), the Red Panda looks less like a bear and more like a raccoon or a cat; despite its name, its…

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Too frequently the slick, overly produced style of network television news shows ends up obscuring the actual subjects they’re purportedly covering—most programs, despite the opportunities presented by the medium, are sadly more “tell” than “show.” As a result, some of the more interesting glimpses of life in China can be seen via various scrappier and less polished outlets. Over the past couple of years, Current TV has presented a handful of China pieces, including stories…

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Status of Chinese People is an aggregator blog primarily spotlighting news stories about authoritarian abuses committed by the Chinese Government. One can read through it for useful (if not always or entirely definitive) background on the persecution of Falun Gong, Tibet, censorship, and freedom of speech—we.. Read & Discuss

Although the mainland has evolved rich and vibrant offerings in film and television in the post-Mao era, most Chinese-language pop music still tends to come from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Led by Cui Jian, an important Beijing rock underground emerged in the ’90s, but it’s hard to call much of that music catchy, exactly, or danceable, or “poppy.” And while promising indie and electronica scenes have also sprung up over the past few years…

Read & Discuss

If you happen to come across a Chinese language instruction program on CCTV International called "Sports Chinese," you may not be aware that its host, the ingratiating Canadian redhead who goes by the name Da Shan is the most famous white man in China. Da Shan ("Big Mountain"; his Anglo name is Mark.. Read & Discuss

Jim Koch, founder and chairman of The Boston Beer Company, brewers of Samuel Adams Beer, is a pioneer of the American palate as well as a quiet leader in conscientious capitalism.

If a local microbrewery opened in your vicinity sometime in the last 20 years, you have Koch in large part to thank. Establishing Samuel Adams in 1984, Koch kicked off the craft beer movement, awakening American drinkers to the vast potential of taste and sophistication in…

Read & Discuss

“May you live in interesting times,” that sly curse, reputed to come from ancient China, is actually apocryphal, no more Chinese than the fortune cookies it shows up in; than Robert Kennedy, who quoted it in a 1966 speech at Cape Town University; or than Chris Marker, the elusive French filmmaker who.. Read & Discuss

Under ordinary circumstances, Chinese censors make it difficult for filmmakers to present any kind of meaningful depiction of contemporary life, which is one of the reasons that period stories and martial arts adventures are so prevalent. Like our MPAA ratings board, the State Administration of Radio,.. Read & Discuss

In the current issue, the filmmaker Jia Zhang Ke writes about how China’s rampant DVD piracy has created a class of street vendors operating suitcase cinematheques, their tables overflowing with Hollywood blockbusters placed willy nilly next to arthouse obscurities and Asian hits. There’s very little sense of curation: if it’s been released somewhere, the Chinese will bootleg it (researching this phenomenon in Shanghai, in and among Pirates of the Caribbean and Mission: Impossible discs, we found illicit…

Read & Discuss

As the harrowing details of yesterday’s 7.8 earthquake in Sichuan Province continue to pile up, allow us to offer a few moments of light respite courtesy of the Internet celebrity known as the Chinese MC Hammer. With equal measures of diligence and exuberance, this young man has recreated the choreography of MTV classics by Hammer, and Michael Jackson, in his living room (in some of the clips, implacable relatives can be seen in the background, sitting…

Read & Discuss

We bet no one at Hill & Knowlton is smart enough to suggest this, but if the Chinese government really wants to endear itself to the rest of the world, it should kick the dopey Panda to the curb and adopt the Red Panda as the country’s new national animal. Native to Southern China (and also—hello!—to Tibet), the Red Panda looks less like a bear and more like a raccoon or a cat; despite its name, its…

Read & Discuss

Too frequently the slick, overly produced style of network television news shows ends up obscuring the actual subjects they’re purportedly covering—most programs, despite the opportunities presented by the medium, are sadly more “tell” than “show.” As a result, some of the more interesting glimpses of life in China can be seen via various scrappier and less polished outlets. Over the past couple of years, Current TV has presented a handful of China pieces, including stories…

Read & Discuss

Status of Chinese People is an aggregator blog primarily spotlighting news stories about authoritarian abuses committed by the Chinese Government. One can read through it for useful (if not always or entirely definitive) background on the persecution of Falun Gong, Tibet, censorship, and freedom of speech—we.. Read & Discuss

Although the mainland has evolved rich and vibrant offerings in film and television in the post-Mao era, most Chinese-language pop music still tends to come from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Led by Cui Jian, an important Beijing rock underground emerged in the ’90s, but it’s hard to call much of that music catchy, exactly, or danceable, or “poppy.” And while promising indie and electronica scenes have also sprung up over the past few years…

Read & Discuss

If you happen to come across a Chinese language instruction program on CCTV International called "Sports Chinese," you may not be aware that its host, the ingratiating Canadian redhead who goes by the name Da Shan is the most famous white man in China. Da Shan ("Big Mountain"; his Anglo name is Mark.. Read & Discuss